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>>>In court, prosecutors provided a list but declined to promise it was the same list cited in the conspiracy indictments.<<<<<

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Lawyers Spar Over Candidate List

Defense likens DeLay case to McCarthy era, presses for evidence.
By Laylan Copelin,
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, October 15, 2005

A lawyer for one of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's co-defendants likened the prosecution of the Sugar Land Republican and his aides to McCarthyism after the two sides squabbled in court Friday over the existence of a piece of evidence. Lawyers for Jim Ellis and John Colyandro, indicted with DeLay on charges that they conspired to launder corporate money into political donations, complained that prosecutors had not provided the list of candidates' names that Ellis allegedly gave officials at the Republican National Committee.

The three are accused of giving $190,000 in corporate money to the RNC which, two weeks later, gave the same amount in political donations to seven Texas candidates during the 2002 election.

>>>In court, prosecutors provided a list but declined to promise it was the same list cited in the conspiracy indictments. They suggested that the list, which included the names of 17 Texas candidates, might have been a precursor to the final list given to the committee.<<<

Two Austin candidates, Jack Stick and Todd Baxter, received money from the committee, as did Rick Green of Dripping Springs.

>>>Ellis' lawyer, J.D. Pauerstein of San Antonio, said there might never have been a list.<<<

"In the 1950s, a man named (Joe) McCarthy claimed to have a list of 200 communists in the State Department," Pauerstein said. "And he didn't." Pauerstein's rhetoric matched the tone of recent attacks that Republicans and their allies are aiming at Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, including a television commercial comparing Earle to an attack dog.

>>>If prosecutors cannot produce the list, Pauerstein said, it would not invalidate the indictment but undercut the credibility of the prosecutors.<<<

State law prohibits spending corporate money in connection with campaigns but allows a political committee, such as DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority to spend it on administrative expenses. The indictment alleges that DeLay and his co-defendants tried to circumvent that law by sending $190,000 from their political committee to the RNC. The defense argues that no law prohibited DeLay's committee from sending corporate money to an out-of-state organization such as the RNC.

>>>Pauerstein also complained that subpoenas for DeLay and Ellis' phone records, issued Thursday, included the cell phone of Ellis' 17-year-old daughter. "I guess they think Jim's 17-year-old daughter is a money-launderer," Pauerstein said. "This is a prosecution that's run amok. It's time for this to stop." <<<<

State District Judge Bob Perkins took no action on the defense's demands that prosecutors produce the list. He set a hearing for Nov. 8 for arguments over the pretrial issues.

The lawyers for Ellis and Colyandro made it clear Friday that their clients don't want the speedy trial that DeLay is seeking. Ellis and Colyandro want to postpone a trial until the appellate courts hear their constitutional challenge to the corporate ban, which they say is too vague. DeLay, on the other hand, wants a trial this year to keep alive his hope of regaining the U.S. House majority leader position he had to resign when he was indicted.

The lawyers are expected to argue that the co-defendants should be tried separately, a proposition that prosecutors might oppose. "I'm concerned about going to trial here (in Austin) as any Republican connected to Tom DeLay in this Democratic city," said Austin lawyer Joe Turner, who represents Colyandro.

DeLay has said he created Texans for a Republican Majority with Ellis and Colyandro. He also said he knew the committee would raise corporate money but insisted he had little to do with the committee's day-to-day operations. DeLay said the committee sent the $190,000 to Washington because it had surplus funds. Pauerstein, Ellis' attorney, echoed that contention Friday. "We needed to do something" with the money, he said. "The campaigns were winding down. You don't raise political money and just sit on it."

Austin lawyer Cris Feldman, who won a civil ruling against Texans for a Republican Majority earlier this year, disagreed. Feldman cited e-mails from DeLay's fundraiser, Warren Robold, who was still trying to raise donations, including corporate money, even as Election Day approached. "TRMPAC was rasing corporate money hand over fist right up to the election," he said. "The evidence is very clear."